Russia Extends $140-a-Ton Raw Sugar Import Tax to August

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The customs union of Russia, Belarus
and Kazakhstan extended a duty on raw sugar imports of $140 a
metric ton from May until August after a record beet harvest.

The three states usually tax raw-sugar imports at $50 to
$250 from May 1 through July 31 under a customs agreement, with
the scale of the tariff determined by futures prices in New
York. This year the minimum duty will be $140 a ton in the
period, the customs union commission said in a statement on its
website. The tax could climb to as high as $250 a ton depending
on the New York price, it added.

The three states tax raw-sugar imports at $140 to $270 a
ton from Aug. 1 through April 30. The tax is usually reduced in
May, June and July to encourage imports during a period when
domestic stocks tend to be low. Russian farmers harvested 46.3
million tons of beets in 2011, according to state statistics
data. Refineries produced 5 million tons of sugar by the end of
January, according to Sugar Producers’ Union data.